Wednesday, 28 September 2005

Another frightening announcement today about the melting polar ice cap. But nobody seems to bother much. I wonder why? Are we just too interested in what is in front of our nose to care? Or just fed up with ecological disaster news?Either way if true what does it mean? What is the cause?Is it global warming or a natural phase? By that I mean the sun warms up and cools down over a period of time. Is this happening? Or have we damaged the planet so much things are going wrong?Maybe it is a sign of the end times. An overcrowded planet, nuclear weapons, natural disasters, and of course human natures wonderful ability to have wars left right and centre!The Christian can lift his head and say, I will give myself to God even more now. Putting the kingdom first instead of self. What a freedom that will be for him, whether it's the end or not!

Do we care if low lying areas are flooded? The US was not very interested in protecting New Orleans, let alone the Maldives! Bangladesh and other places are far away, so does it matter to the powers that be? I hope so! But I wonder.....

Sunday, 25 September 2005

Share your thoughts with the world the blurb says. But the world may not be looking eh?My thoughts at the moment at diverted by silly small things that give, great, deep, joy.The sun is shining!Now to those who are ignoring this blog from sun filled nations this may not seem a point worth making, but to one brought up under the gray skies of Edinburgh I can tell you joy is very real when the sun comes out! I am in fact four hundred miles from Edinburgh these days, but the weather is not usually four hundred miles better. A few degrees warmer, and less wet, but not the southern reaches of the Mediterranean I can tell you. So I can look out towards the park and see the tree dappled with yellow sunlight. The various greens beginning to turn slightly brown as Autumn takes a hold. Blue sky with distant white clouds complete the vision. How can those who dwell in sunny climes ever turn out depressed? How come those who live around the Mediterranean have such surly dispositions? Smiling and laughing seems a far distant trick to those I have met from that part of the world. Africans can smile, even Arabs give it a go, Asians are almost always smiling! We are a people that are difficult to please are we not?

Well I can tell you the sun makes me happy! Wandering around in the warm air, enjoying what I can before the chill becomes lasting, I see the sun making even those places that are run down and dilapidated look good. The people do not respond as I do though. If they do they are keeping it a secret. The miserable looks I see all around me bring despair to my little mind. Why is it that the more we have the less we enjoy life? The nation is fat! Rich yet unhappy.

Only Jesus can make them satisfied. But as always they ignore him and are looking for things to bring joy, things that do not last. Relationships last, and what better relationship than with a god who satisfies?

Saturday, 24 September 2005

All over Edinburgh people are celebrating.Well, it is Saturday night, and the place is teeming with folks looking for a bit of fun and laughter.However, many will be dwelling in the joy that comes from the magnificent fighting defeat of the ogre that is the Rangers Football Club!This resounding victory has shown the deliberately scoffing world that the Heart of Midlothian Football Club has returned to its rightful place at the top of the Scottish Premier League!THAT is something worth celebrating after all!

Nobody can be fooled for long into thinking a football result can be so important that an individual can hang their life around it, but nonetheless it can give people a great lift in the drudgery that is everyday life for most of us at some time or other. Many years ago when Sunderland reached the final of the English Cup production in Sunderland rose 300% between the semi final and the final tie. That is a lot of inspiration for any town! Similarly each of us gets a lift when our team has a good result. It may not be permanent, but its effects can be rewarding. We are right to make the best of them when they arrive on our doorstep.

So, in the morning many will complain of the effects of the night before. All will feel a deep sense of satisfaction at knowing that the Heart of Midlothian have overcome once again and are rising from the depths in which they have dwelt for far to long!

Friday, 16 September 2005

Shocking!That's the word. Almost the only word that ITN news actually know.Every evening the Six 'o' Clock news begins with a pair of stuffed dummies standing, somewhat awkwardly, informing us of the 'Main headline tonight.' This headline, often of no news value whatsoever, nearly always features the word 'shocking.''Shocking news for women,' 'A shocking report,' 'The crime that is shocking the nation,' and so on.At no time is journalism allowed to appear in such headlines, and rarely in the report that follows. Sensationalise the news, twist the facts, and ignore bits that don't grab attention.

Such journalism is indeed, 'shocking.'Why do we, in a nation with such a high standard of literacy, need to boil the news down to a brief headline and a sensationalised report? is it because the people are too stupid to think for themsel;ves? No! This nation has some of the wisest and most aware folks in the world. Could it be that we would ignore the facts if not represented in this narrow minded manner? Again no! Give the facts and the people understand the why's and wherefores about anything, and better than most nations would.

Why then the 'shocking' headlines that are the mainstay of this dumbed down news service?

Bread and circuses, that's why!Yes, bread and circuses. The Romans gave the people free bread to stop them going hungry, and kept them busy with the circus acts. What better way to stop the population from rioting than to watch gladiators beat one another to a pulp, or to have your fill of criminals thrown to the lions or covered in pitch and burnt to death.Today our bread is overflowing! The nation suffers from an epidemic of 'obesity. The word itself is used instead of the actual word for this disease, 'fat,' and has all it desires foodwise. Telivision and the press provide the 'circus' part of the deal. The great mass of the public do not want to fill their heads with facts and details, they want simple entertainment to make them feel good.

Sure in this country there is a great awareness of the needs of the world. No-one is surpised at the hunger around us, the natural and man made disasters that occur, and often the United Kingdom population is the first to offer help. But for the most part we want to go home, shut the door, and ignore the world outside for a while. All to often of course, the short while becomes a very long time indeed. ITN recognise the shallowness that dwells within us and seeks to satisfy this with its narrow news service. World affairs are touched on, but close to home, and, often cringingly small minded, stories come first. Tabloid news at its best.

Sad nation we are. All the benefits and privelages of one of the richest nations in the world, yet content to be filled with vacuousness.

Tuesday, 13 September 2005

So they are panic buying eh? All over the country the pumps are running dry as overdressed, overweight people in oversized cars too big for their needs desperately fill up with petrol and diesel in case the protest brings everything to a halt.How daft are they?Panic buying is no new thing, it occurs every so often, but is it right this time?

There are three types of person more selfish than the rest of us. Smokers, who think their foul habit ought to dominate the lives of the rest of us. it does not seem to matter to them if we, or they for that matter, develop bronchitis or cancer, their nicotine is more important than our miserable lives. Car drivers also follow the selfish path in a manner which makes 'B' celebrities chasing a television appearance look humble. It appears to them that parking the car at the shop door, nay, at the checkout itself is their right! Life ought to enable the car driver to park at the very spot they want, irrespective of any obstruction that may be in the way. Have these peoplelost the use of their legs maybe? Does the fear of exercise make it needful to park on the pavement as the road is three feet to far a distance to walk from?Not only does the motorist consider himself more important than the rest of humanity, he feels no guilt about polluting the air we breathe. Parking with the engine on throwing particles of diesel down our throat means nothing to the egocentric driver. If we consider this undesirable it is likely the lad will have some meaningless music derived from the BBCs radiophonic workshop, or just a fault in the player, blasting at 100 decibels and shaking the foundations of heaven itself!Not that he will notice of course.Of course it could be worse.It could be a woman!Just imagine a women driver, with cigarette in mouth attempting to park at the local 'Tesco.' She will give you a lot of thought eh?

Monday, 12 September 2005

The problem with work, is work! I can cope with all sorts of interesting stuff, but having to spend a day in drudgery and effort is not what I feel made for. I am much more of a 'Let's do it later/ let them do it' type. Still, it brings in the cash, and today I met friendly kind people who appreciate what I am doing for them. That's nice, makes it worthwhile.

Saturday, 10 September 2005

From the window it looks a bit misty outside. Once out there it is in fact fine rain falling not quite gently enough to saturate, but hard enough to upset the postman attempting to keep his bag of goodies dry. Good job it's Saturday so it will be an early finish for them.But the atmosphere on days like these is good. Quite close and muggy, 300 yards away the misty haze blocks the view, and the light increases as the sun rises. Had I been working out there I might be displeased, but in here I find it relaxing, and enjoyable.Maybe I ought to get out more.....

Friday, 9 September 2005

Returning from Edinburgh is always a strange affair. It is so hard to settle in when there, and once back in the family groove it's time to leave. Back home the people who were on top of you are suddenly missed! Within days the old ways return, and work and the daily grind make the 'Athens of the North' a distant memory.

What is far from a memory is the stale smell that this flat emits whenever I return. It clearly is always there, but one gets used to it and it fails to register. Now however it just plain stinks! A complaint to the landlord brought little response, probably because the fault is nearly two hundred years of suffering that this building has endured. Not much can be done....without cash! Don't mention that to him!

The other weekend I read in the Sunday Times an excellent item on the way women are abused in Guatemala. Normally I ignore these articles as I have had it up to here with self obsessed girls giving out with their percieved problems. The only problem they usually have is caused by a deficient personality and a self obsession.However, the mere fact that females of all agaes are murdered, often brutally, at a rate of one a day is something to make us think.Girls are dragged of the streets, attacked in their own homes, raped, tied with wire, violently beaten and abused, and either killed or left for dead. Age means nothing here. One twenty something was beheaded, and the one year old child she was looking after was beheaded also!

Why? The country has suffered over thirty years of warfare. Dictators supported by the U.S. Goverment have abused the people on the grounds of 'fighting communism.' The macho attitude of the men is added to a nation in which moral scruples have long been forgotten.The result is that no woman is safe anymore.

So why do the authorities not step down on such things?The most obvious reason is that those perpetrating these foul abuses are the law officials themselves! There is a police department set up to investigate such outrages. Nobody is ever found guilty. Nobody is ever likely to be found guilty!

This is an affront to common decency!Why do womens groups around the world stand back and refuse to ghelp women who need help? Why do goverments ignore such abuses of human rights?

Over three hundred women a year, brutally murdered. yet no-one cares.What strange people we are!